Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The two groups the Lebanese Interior Minister said were working together, and were Syrian backed, have fought AGAINST each other.

Lebanon's Interior Minister blamed Fateh Al-Islam for last month's bus bombings, and said the group was Syrian backed. As the group, Lebanese experts, Syrian experts, the Syrian government, and even the New York Times have said: Fateh Al-Islam is quite an anti-Syrian group.

It split from pro-Syrian Fateh Al-Intifadah last year.

And NOW, the two groups have been involved in a gun battle in Lebanese refugee camp Nahr Al-Barid. Yes, Hassan Sabaa, they are the same group aren't they.

Sasa,At least Lebanon has some democracy,and let the lebanese to solve their problems?

As for us Syrians,are we happy with this regime ,who killed our best sons,raped our best girls,destroyed our history?I dont think so....Or are u following the proverb,who marry my mother became my father ?I'm sure that u have a lot to say about Syria,but as we are in One Party One man regime ,you have to shut up ,or you will be labeled takfiri or ekhwanji .....

Lebanese leaders don't know how to solves their problems without blaming outsiders. It is the most racist country in the Arab World. The discrimination against Palestinians, Syrians, Armenians is a tragedy. There is no democracy - it is a shared dictatorship between a few warlords. Don't forget how Hizbollah and March 14 and even Aoun made agreements not to compete in certain areas. They agreed to share the spoils between each other.

Every seat (except one) in Beirut was uncontested - voters had ONE choice on the ballot paper: a March 14 candidate.

This is no different to one party rule.

Who is to blame for the civil war in Lebanon? You can blame outsiders, but it couldn't have happened without the agreement of the warlord leaders.

Every country I have lived in complains about their leaders. It is only when you realise how bad it could be that you appreciate how good it currently is. Yes, there are many problems, but none of these problems can't be solved by the government if the threat of war was not hanging over us.

People who go against Syria and its president SHOULD shut up. Assad is the best man for the country.

And to the idiot who made the first post: People who would like to know the truth, and not the Zionist garbage lies coming from the "Lebanese" government, would care about what Sasa says, as these incidents prove that the "Lebanese" government is a Zionist one.

The syrian regime is an israeli creation.Who make the syrian people poor and weak is good for israel.Btw who killed more palestinians ,sharon or asad?who killed more syrians ,israel or asad?Who sold the syrian lands to israel?and got then the ticket of syrian presidency ?are the qardahian now interested by islam and palestine ?they are liars sons of liars....

Thanks for your support Syria Almighty. But i disagree, don't make them shut up, let them speak. Everyone needs to play a part in Syria's future. And once we overcome the threats of Israel and the US, I have confidence that Bashar will continue to the reforms he started. Whoever says Syria has not modernised in the last 7 years is a liar. And it will continue. And eventually that modernisation will include politics too.

Syria has a lot to be proud of, its tolerance, its peace, its non sectarian nature. We need to build on that, not destroy it.

Ok Sasa ,the sectarian system in Lebanon is far from being perfect but it's by far more balanced than the qardahian regime ,in which all the keys posts are monopilized by members of the alawite community and they are less 10 % of the syrian people.

And it will be very difficult to make better system ,because Lebanon is a country of minorities,unlike Syria which have a clear majority.

Sasa and do u think ,Hezballah love the syrian people or they love the mukhabarat ?Who kill the syrian and palestinian people in Iraq other than the friends of Nasrallah?

And why are u preoccuped by Lebanon,if bashar and cousins are stealing Syria and the next victim will be your district of Saroujah....Soon u will have to change your blog's name to Makhlouf Night Clubs.....or Makhlouf Land...

I'm not talking about the government, I'm talking about the people. Which is more tolerant, and non sectarian? Syria or Lebanon? You are right, the nature of the Syrian government needs to change, and it will.

There is far more poverty in Lebanon than in Syria. Don't forget, Lebanon has the highest national debt in the world - which Lebanon will be paying back for around 200 years. Its wealth is hidden in the vast Hariri pockets, which spent billions rebuilding...downtown.

Corruption in Lebanon is far higher than Syria - and Syria has just launched a crackdown. The numbers speak. Lebanon's debt has paid for almost no redevelopment outside of Beirut. Even in Tripoli, it is the Saudis who are funding the work, and in the south, it is Qatar.

after 15 years of non stop war,infrastructure rebuild is very expensive, and yes Lebanese leaders are corrupt but no one can deny that Hariri does represent the Sunnis in Lebanon,Amal Hezballah ,the Shias and Aoun,Gemayel,Franjiyeh and Gaegea the christians.

GDP means wealth production and is not directly related to the debt.And why should the syrian people work in poor Jordan or poor Lebanon ?yes the syrians were not sectarian at all before asad regime,the succession of churches,synagogues and mosques in the old syrian cities are clear testimony but now after 40 years of sectarian policy in Syria ,the people has fueled a sectarian reaction ,but it's weak compared to the iraqi neighbors thanks to the merchant culture of sunnis and christians in Syria.In general ,the sectarian feeling exist among minorities.

You said that Syria has just launched a crackdown ...who launched it ? Rami-Bashar-Bushra triumvirat ?It's recycling operation which consist in substitution of old pawns with more thirsty ones...corruption is a pillar of this regime and is there less corruption today than 7 years ago?

The policies have absolutely not been sectarian. The policies of the past 40 years haven't been in the interest of one group. You seem to focus on the sectarian shape of the government - and I have agreed, that is something that needs to change. But as for the direction of the policies, they have not been Alawi policies, like Hariri has had Sunni policies, or Maliki has had Shia policies, or Abdullah of Jordan has had anti-Jordanian Palestinian policies.

Yes, you can disagree that Hariri represents the Sunnis. According to most opinion polls, about one third of Sunnis agree with Hariri. As for the Christians, the split is obvious. Look at this survey. There will always be discontent in any country, as I said before.

Infrastructure rebuilding may be expensive in Lebanon after 15 years of war - but can you explain why Lebanon has the highest debt in the world ($34 billion) and why the Hariri family wealth rose by $32 billion between 1991 and 2004?

Anyway, i find it strange how you defend the GDP of Lebanon which is built on debt, Lebanon's 'democracy' and call Syria sectarian and corrupt.

I know under which leadership I would rather live. If you really believe that a Lebanese, or Iraqi, or Jordanian, or Egyptian or even American system would serve Syrians better, then let's see.

Even Iraqis murdered and raped by the killer Saddam are begging for him to come back. The grass is always greener on the other side I guess. Maybe we should stop condemning, and start working to make our society better.

U Said,The policies have absolutely not been sectarian and how do u explain the sectarian cleansing in the syrian army since 1965 and sepcially in 1974 ?The same policy was applied in many fields as the educational and public sector...is that normal that in the oil sector in al jazeera ,the majority of workers are from the coastal mountains and this region 60% are unemployment?Why so many alawite civil servants in Damascus?Bashar has largely opened the door of Syria to Iran to promote shiatization in Syria among the poor shawis in al jazeera ,there was no one single shia in this part of syria,and in all syria they were less than 1%,only some families in damascus and in 2 small villages near Aleppo.As for the lebanese sunni support for hariri it's pragmatic because of their hatred against the syrian regime who killed all their leaders and jailed their sons and raped their women....as he with my friends and relatives and may be yours in Syria ...do u deny the sunni paranoia of the syrian alawite regime?In Lebanon,there is a clear alliance between the shias and the alawite regime in Syria.Dont see it as an alliance between syria and lebanon.Who are the most close people to the Syrian people other than those of Tripoli ,Saida and Beirut?

Is al akhbar a reliable newspaper?

Important=i'm not attacking the alawite as community ,the majority of them are good people...but this is the reality..and if there is a generaliztion it's syrian regime's fault.

As for the iraqi or leb scenario in Syria it's not possible ,because we dont have opposition linked to Iran or other foreigner powers....Syrian opposition is patriotic and not extremist.

Ya Sasa,according to forbes...Saad Hariri has not more than 2,5 billions..5 other billions are divided between his familly members,we know that hariri becamed rich because he was the associate of King Fahed....but who is Jamil al Asad who left in French Banks 6 billions US dollars...what about the other 150 billions from somar,rifaat,basel,fawaz,bushra,bashar,rami and bro,anise.

The survey wasn't carried out by Al Akhbar, it was published in there. But fine, if you don't accept the survey simply because it doesn't support your beliefs, then keep trying to discredit it.

As for your comment that Bashar is opening up Syria to the Shiaization - there is no room for comments like that outside of the House of Saud, and the Mubarak regimes, trying to spread sectarian hatred across the Arab world.

According to the national accounts, the Hariri family rose by $32 billion, at the same time that the national debt rose by $34 billion. It must just be coincidence that Rafiq Al-Hariri owned the company which rebuilt Beirut. And it must be coincidence that Rafiq used powers of privatisation that would have shocked Regan and Thatcher to compulsorialy purchase all land in Downtown almost for free, and then create one of the most expensive districts in the Arab world.

Sasa if you want to be more useful for your country,as syrian you should focus on the corruption of asad familly,because the syrian people and may be yourself are directly affected from it.When the shoes of the mukhabarat will be removed from over your head then you can help the lebanese to solve their problems....but now it sound not very nice,it's absurd hypocrisy....Mubarak and others are bad and also in Egypt ,there is people like u and in the other side there are egyptian who claim their rights in order to gain their dignity.

Hi Puppeteer, I care about Lebanon because they will always, always drag us into their problems. Look at Walid Beik - if there is a rain shower, it is Syria's fault.

And anonymous, if you really believe corruption is Syria's biggest problem, and you really think the best way to solve that is to have a new government, then good luck. If you really believe that everything good will remain, and everything bad will be replaced, and corruption will go, then I think you are deluding yourself. Much better to improve what we have, than to replace it, at great expense and pain, only to find that the new system is worse.

As for jordan ,libya ,saudi arabia...40 years ago they were poor beduins....at the same time Syria was a prosperous democracy with the best universities and hospitals in the arab world,human rights were respected....today they are in in front of us in all fields.

Why the syrians are obliged to study in Jordan and go to the Jordanian hospitals ?What's going wrong ?

Is the syrian people less capable .....of course no...so there is a problem somewhere....

Well, I believe that blaming Bashar for all of the country's woes is just as weak an escuse.

Syria has beared up remarkably well despite the embargo. Look at how Iraq suffered during sanctions (I accept the sanctions were a lot tougher, and the dictatorship a lot tougher too!).

Hafez was a different era, with different ambitions. He made no pretence to modernise. Syria has developed a lot over the past seven years - and I believe that without the embargo and without the threat of war, Syria would be moving much faster economically and politically. If Bashar fails then - that's when you will be right to blame him. For now, I don't think he could've done much better in the circumstances.

There will be no prosperity in Syria until Syria makes a full peace with Israel.

Syria is only good for harbouring terrorists, and the only reason whyhe is trying to stall the International tribunal, is because he is guilty.

Lebanon to ASSAD was a cash cow, and now he is realising that aint NO MORE, through his proxies in Lebanon.Lebanon will always, especially now, rid itself of SYRIAN INTERFERENCE, but I'm afraid little boy Assad arent reading the same page.

GOOD RIDDANCE BUTCHER OF DAMASCUS.

And SASA, dont preach me about the virtues of Syrian life, because as long as ASSAD is president he'll always have both eyes on Lebanon, and take his eye off Syria..He will never be able to sleep at night, unless he knows everyting that is going on in Lebanon...

He must understand that the MAJORITY of Lebanese here and abroad DESPISE HIM.....

sasa,after the peace with israel,then what will be the pretext used for his one party,mukhabarati alawite rule.?????They are doing good political business with it ....it satisfy u to say that our universities,hospitals are bad ,our gdp per capita is at the bottom with sudan and yemen,,15 000 missing and 10000's killed ...old aleppo ,hama and damascus destroyed ...makhloufian and asadian corruption..all these problems are israeli faults ????????

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About me

Written by sasa

From Damascus, Syria

From Damascus to London via Beirut. Based in and out of the central Damascene hamlet of Saroujah.
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